


Grade-A Avoidance Skills

by decreasethesurpluspopulation



Series: Making A Change [8]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Books, Bookstore Owner Dean, Helpful Jo, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Mistakes, What Have I Done, What Was I Thinking?, but then not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-07
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-10-15 22:54:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10559072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/decreasethesurpluspopulation/pseuds/decreasethesurpluspopulation
Summary: Where we all employ our avoidance skills like trained professionals.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Don't hate me. I just can't stop.

Jo just couldn’t fucking believe this guy. She leans up against the shelf again, standing on her tiptoes to see him over the aisles of books, and scowls at his perfect nonchalance. He’s helping a sweet old lady choose between romance novels, discussing their degree of “steaminess” (shit you not, she couldn’t make it up if she tried), like nothing has happened.  
How the fuck dare he, she thinks.She goes back to angrily shelving the biographies, and ignores the curious stares she gets from a few customers perusing the stacks. After Dean rings the woman up, having decided on getting both novels it would seem, Jo sees him begin chatting up the next customer, a woman, that comes up to him.  
Like he didn’t just have a terrible break up with love of his life, for his whole life, just days ago.  
She’s leaning into his space, a hand on his arm as she laughs about his explanation of Waiting for Godot (which, Jo knows for a fact cannot be explained, because that’s the whole point!), so he’s totally bullshitting her.  
Jo walks by as casually as she can manage, and tries to catch Dean’s eye to give him her best What the hell are you doing? look, but he avoids her completely, laughing with this chick like she’s the funniest person he’s ever met. Before she can try again to grab his attention, a young student-type comes to her with questions about a poetry book he’s trying to find.  
Having helped the poor kid, who couldn’t distinguish Donne from Whitman, Jo found herself involuntarily checking Dean’s whereabouts again.  
When Jo sees him with another chick, she seethes, but can only continue working, as the people steadily increase throughout the morning.  
By late afternoon, she’s a little sick of these bimbos encouraging Dean’s terrible behavior. All day long it seems if he hasn’t been monopolizing the female customers, he’s been utilizing his Grade-A Winchester Avoidance Techniques. Jo looks up from the register again, and isn’t the least bit surprised at what she sees.  
Again, he’s flirting the pants off some slut. This one has long light brown hair and dark eyes, Jo notices. He’s giving her the patented Winchester Smirk, and the damsel’s about to literally swoon, so Jo’s doing both of them a favor, really. She marches towards him, interrupting their vaguely dirty conversation about some angel and a hunter, “Hey, Dean, I need you over here for a sec, ‘kay?”  
Dean gives the curly-haired slut a sweet, apologetic smile, and Jo just about vomits at his “If you’ll excuse me, sweetheart.”  
Once they're out of earshot, Jo punches the Dean in the arm. Hard, ‘cause he’s an ass.  
“Ow, Jo, the fuck?” His scowl would’ve had a lesser person backtracking, but she’s known him too long to be put off by a look she’s been getting since she was in grade school.  
“You’re lucky it wasn’t your throat, you douche,” she whispers angrily. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”  
He whispers back harshly, “Jesus, Jo, I’m not doing anything, so you can calm the fuck down. What are you doing? You’ve had eyes on me all morning, and it’s getting a little creepy.”  
“What’s creepy is you talking literotica to any piece of ass that walks in here, and how quickly you’ve reverted to-” Jo cuts off and looks away.  
Dean spreads his arms out, “What, Jo?” he says lowly. “C’mon, you were all for giving it to me, don’t slow down now.”  
She knows she looks exactly like Mom as the disappointment she's been feeling all day bleeds into her eyes (and she’ll let herself cringe about it later), “It’s like you’ve gone back to acting like you did before you and Cas,” she falters when he tenses at the name, but trudges on, “Before you knew that Cas felt the same as you. When you used to pretend that you didn’t care about him, or anyone, and you slept with everyone that walked by, and were an asshole to anyone that cared about you.”  
He glares so murderously at the section of sci-fi near his feet that Jo fears a little for the books.  
She takes a step forward, speaking softer, “Dean, just because you and Cas aren’t-”  
He reacts immediately, “How do you even know anything about -?”  
She rolls her eyes, “Besides the fact that you’ve been acting like a manslut, and haven’t mentioned him once today?”  
“Jeez, Jo, it hasn’t been that bad.” Dean glances away, angry still, but has the decency to blush.  
She chooses not to correct him. “Well, other than that, Charlie may have warned me that you would be acting weird today, because she knew from the schedule that you and I worked together today. By the way, we should really figure out she has access to all that important shit.”  
“So, Charlie knows that me and Cas… um...”  
Jo gives him another pointed glare, “Yeah, just because you don’t talk to anyone doesn’t mean that no one else does. Sam called her off the bench when you apparently got loose for a wild 24 hours-”  
Dean’s frustration returns quickly, and he gives her a glare of his own. “I’m gonna kill ‘em, it wasn’t even 24 hours. It’s not his business or hers, or yours either, so you guys shouldn’t be gossiping about-”  
“You gonna kill Cas, too? Because she talked to him also.”  
He snaps to attention and his eyes widen almost comically, “She talked to Cas?” he asks, ashamed.  
“Yeah, which, by the way, just my opinion, you’re kind of an asshole-”  
“I know, Jo, that’s why I fucking tried to-" He nearly growls now, "You know what? Doesn’t matter. I don’t have to explain anything to you.” He starts walking away then, but she can’t let him have the last word.  
“Aw, thanks, Dean, love when you remind me how much I mean to you. I forget how sweet you can be sometimes.”  
He throws over his shoulder, “Yeah, and I forget how much of a pain in my ass you can be.”  
Jo’s silently fuming, and goes to return to the cash register, when Dean comes from behind a shelf and blocks her path. Without meeting her eyes, Dean says quietly, “Where, I mean, um, is he okay?”  
Jo folds her arms. “I don’t want to talk about other people’s business, Dean. He’s not your business anymore, is he?”  
Shit. Jo knows she went too far as soon as the words leave her mouth. His whole body seems to crumble into itself and his face shutters into stoney neutral expression.  
“Dean, I-”  
He shakes his head and brings a hand to the back of his neck. “Nah, Jo, you’re right.” He barks a laugh that sounds painful and begins walking away backwards. “I’m gonna go to the back and do some, uh, inventory shit. Or whatever.” Dean looks up at her for a second and then away again before she can see his eyes, “Sorry, I’ll just, uh. See you later, Jo.”  
He’s gone and walking quickly to the back of the store before she can fully form an apology, it’s a wonder he doesn’t trip. But she officially knows she fucked up.  
“So, could you suggest a book instead?”  
Jo turns at the voice, “Hm? I’m sorry?”  
The pretty girl that Dean was talking to a minute ago walks closer to Jo, having seen Dean’s disappearing act. “I was looking for a book for this girl. I’ve been trying get up the nerve to ask her out, and she has such a weird... thing for these two brothers.”  
Jo groans internally at this new info on the supposed slut. This apparently gay slut. Dammit, now she feels guilty and stupid. She plasters a smile on her face and pulls down another book. “Of course, I’m pretty sure this is the next one in the series.” 

 

A few hours later, she can’t stand it anymore. The store is practically empty, as it’s near closing time, so Jo walks to the back of the store, knowing that the remaining two are regulars that will be fine left alone for a bit.  
She peeks inside the office prepared to give a sincere apology and a shoulder cry on, which is not something she offers just anyone, and she’ll be pointing that out.  
Only she finds Dean’s asleep, sat up in Mary’s worn floral armchair with his head on the large oak desk.  
Jo can’t keep the smirk from her face as she takes a picture of him drooling all over the paperwork, and she’s tempted to get more, but she knows she should wake him instead.  
She puts a hand on his shoulder and shakes gently, “Hey, Dean. You gotta wake up.”  
He jumps, but settles quickly and sits back, rubbing a hand down his face. “Ah, shit. Sorry, Jo, didn’t mean to crash on you.”  
“Eh, you looked like you needed the beauty sleep.” She starts piling the paperwork together as he gets up.  
“You needed the beauty sleep.” he retorts.  
“Clever as always.”  
He leans against the desk, yawning, and tries to swipe the papers from her, but she elbows him away. “Go sleep at home like a normal person, you weirdo.”  
“Just let me count the drawer and lock up, and I will.” He yawns again, “You’re so bossy, are you sure you don’t own the place instead?”  
She puts her hands on her hips, and faces him, “I was trying to apologize, you dick.”  
Dean turns around and scoots the chair back into the desk, laughing sarcastically, “Is that what this is?”  
Jo rolls her eyes (and maybe Mom’s right, she does that a lot), “It was gonna be, until you annoyed the crap outta me again.”  
“How many pictures did you take?” he asks, ignoring her attempted apology as he fixes all the papers.  
“Only one, I figured I owed you.” At this, their eyes meet and she clears her throat.  
She steps forward, “I shouldn’t’ve said all that shit. At least, the shit towards the end. All the stuff before that I completely stand by.” It’s the best she can do.  
Dean waves a hand at her, “No, you were right, Jo, and I know I…” He looks down at his hands and mumbles, “I know I’ve fucked everything to hell lately, and I was just, I dunno, trying to ignore it, I guess.”  
Jo nods in understanding, “I know you weren’t trying to do anything, I was just freaked out. It’s been you and Cas for so long, even when you weren’t together, you were together, you know? Haven’t seen you pulling that shit since before Cas got sober.”  
When she looks at him again, he’s turned away, but his hands are clenched so hard that the knuckles are white. She grabs one of them, and loosens it to hold in her own, “Hey, look at me.”  
He does, and his green eyes are close to brimming over with tears, and it’s honestly freaking her the fuck out, because she’s never seen him this vulnerable. When this stuff happened when they were kids, Cas would always step in and talk him off the ledge or cheer him up before Dean got this far. Jo isn’t sure she could do what Cas did for Dean.  
And just as that thought crosses her mind, his lips are on hers.  
It happens so suddenly, that she only stands there, not realizing, not feeling the magnitude of it yet.  
Dean puts a hand at her waist, and all she can think is that his lips are just as soft as she thought.  
Until he gasps, and pulls away.  
“Shit, shit shit.”  
Dean’s across the room now, backed into the wall with his arms folded around himself, either holding himself together or holding himself back. “God, Jo, I’m so sorry, that was fucked up, and I shouldn’ta done that.”  
“Dean, it’s okay-”  
“It’s not, it’s so fucked.” He slides down to the ground before meeting her eyes again. “And I just made it worse. So much worse.”  
Jo puts out her hands in a calming gesture, approaching him like she did frightened horses when she used to spend summers on her grandfather’s ranch. “Dean, you didn’t make anything worse, okay? It’s not a big deal.”  
He shakes his head, so hard it might roll off his shoulders. “Jo, seriously, I didn’t mean to do that, I don’t know what came over me-”  
“I know, you’ve got nothing to worry about.” Jo sits down on the ground next to him.  
He put his head in his hands between his knees. “What am I doing?” he asks in a small voice.  
She shrugs, bumping his shoulder, “I dunno, dude, but you obviously have shit to work out with Cas.” And she obviously has shit to work out with herself.  
He breathes again, and tells her slowly, “I don’t want that… with you, Jo, please believe me.”  
“I know you don’t.” She says it swift and easy, because she’s said it a million times to herself. Because she’s known it for years. Probably longer than Dean himself has.  
They’re quiet for a minute, until she has to say something to alleviate his and her embarrassment. She starts softly, “Besides, you’re a little too, ahem, gay for my taste.”  
Just like that, everything is okay for a few minutes.  
He snorts, “Yeah, and you’re a little too smartass for me.”  
Jo laughs outright at that, “Oh, and Cas is less of a smartass?”  
Dean laughs too, “Oh, god, no, he’s the worst. Fucker is such smartass.” He nudges her. “With a great ass.” he says as he wiggles his eyebrows.  
Jo can only groan, “And he’s back, folks.”  
Dean gets up off the floor chuckling, and holds a hand out for her while she continues, sighing, “Well, the moment was nice while it lasted. You were almost sensitive. Still a dick, though.”  
Dean smiles softly, “Well don’t go telling everybody, I have a reputation to uphold.”  
“Pssh, yeah, wouldn’t want it to get out that you have feelings.”  
He ignores her in favor of flipping her off as he walks out to check on whoever’s still in the place.  
They close and lock up the store with a quickness, both probably eager to get home after the long, emotionally draining day.  
As she walks to her car, she hears Dean call out to her, “Hey, Jo!”  
“Let me go home, you ass!” she yells back without turning.  
His laugh echoes across the parking lot. “Just wanted to say thanks, but I guess that’s what I get.”  
Jo laughs him off as she drives away, but can’t help mumbling to herself, “Yep, I guess that’s what I get.”

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I hate me too. All will be resolved, I promise! Just not for awhile. This has kinda gotten away from me.  
> Let me know what you think


End file.
